now, our beautiful dress has a pretty pair of shoes.

i am not lying when i say that we've had at least six different people, over the last few weeks, come up and ask us when are we going to do something about our front yard. last year, our excuse was that we were too busy with the interior of the house to worry about the exterior.

this year, we just openly admit our stupidity. for over a decade in boston, our front yard consisted of two window boxes. that's it. we've never had room for annuals, perennials, ground cover, let alone full-grown trees. we did our backyard last fall simply out of necessity - we were sick of walking through mud just to get to our car and back.

the truth is, for us, it's much more fun to pick furniture, pillows, and accessories than it is to choose shrubs and flowers. that's just the kinda girls we are.

with so many upcoming events this spring, we could no longer put the yard dilemma off, much to dabney's dismay. (she didn't even get all the fuss about our garden of weeds and mud. when i explained that it's like wearing a beautiful dress and having no shoes, i think she finally understood.)

it's not grand or anything. we have exactly one dogwood tree (missouri's state tree), one red bud tree (another missouri native), and one japanese maple (just because i like them). also scattered about are boxwoods and ornamental grasses. there is plenty of room to grow and add more fun stuff, but at least this takes care of the initial unsightliness.